On 2014-07-20 20:23, freestylpolaris wrote:I'm confused about the "edit; this was gloss spar varnish". So the top was burned and then gloss spar varnish or amber varnish??

I just put the edit to say it was gloss varnish,(amber) I had forgot you said you wanted to use semi gloss and just wanted you to know it was gloss I had used and NOT semi gloss.

The top is burned then amber spar varnish in gloss, to finish off the rest of the varnish before it went bad I ended up with about 14 coats on the bar and 2-3 (I think) to the tables and stools and bench along the pond.

The PVC is shellac amber, it only comes in amber or clear with no choice of gloss or anything else.

The only reason I put the top picture was to show you what color the amber varnish added to plain wood to give you an idea what it does as far as how much color it adds.

Well I didn't plan on that many coats for sure, I used Captains varnish 1015 from Pettit marine paint.

When I went looking I found our local price was $39 a quart and I guessed I needed probably 2 quarts. Then I found a place online who had a gallon for like $89 + about $12 shipping.

So not being sure how much I needed I just got the gallon, after using a little more than half I decided to do some other tables and add more coats to the bar. It was starting to dry up in the can anyway so instead of wasting it I used it.

I have to say we have used the bar a lot already for parties and fires (behind the bar)for the grandkids to roast marshmallows and stuff and nothing seems to stick to it. Spilled drinks, melted marshmallows, candy, syrup from drink mixes, nothing seems to stick, the next day just wipe off with a wet rag and it's clean, it's working great so far.

Alright guys! After about a week of research and discussion I think I am almost ready to purchase materials and get started.

After the research I found out from several different online sources that spar varnish typically will hold up to weather better than polyurathane or anything else for that matter so I am going to stick with spar varnish.

I also found an oil-based spar varnish opposed to a water-based or oil-modified after an hour or two of searching, comparing, reviewing. From online sources and TC I hear that the oil based gets soaked into the wood better, resists weather better, and is less "paint" looking than the water-based. Here it is:

The only thing that concerns me is that under specifications it says "interior finish type: spar varnish" and on the can it says "interior/exterior". I want strictly exterior BUT I am fairly certain all spar varnish is exterior and it just says interior because it can be used as interior if people really want to.

SO. The game plan is:

1) Wash
2) Sand
3) Burn (More-so on main poles & roof for a darker color, a little bit on paneling as well)
4) 1-2 coats of amber shellac all over. Purchasing 2 quarts of this and hoping that will be enough:

The last thing I am a bit confused about is how to mix into a 50% ratio. If I am buying a gallon of spar varnish and a gallon of mineral spirits do I just pour both into a bowl and mix? Would that be a 50% ratio as dtel mentioned or is that a 100/100 ratio? Remember I am a complete novice at painting, staining so any comments and help is always appreciated. Thanks as always!

Oh, and do you all recommend I use mineral spirits for the shellac as well to avoid bubbling while applying?

& dtel. If you remember, how long did it take the spar varnish mixed with mineral spirits to dry? Typically I hear that without any kind of mixing spar varnish can take 24-48hrs to dry per coat so I am just curious howl long it would take mixed and maybe I could put a coat on before work and a coat on after work or something.

Hi Freestyle,
We used the Amber Shellac on the Bamboo sides of our bar for the color and, it looks great. but thin the shellac and clean your brushes with denatured alcohol. we used the Minwax Spar urethane on the top probably have 10 coats,
thinning the first coats and sanding between coats, use a good china bristle brush. i dont think you need to thin it quite so much for the final coats maybe 25%, the Spar varnish take's the mineral spirits or paint thinner to thin and clean up, don't use it in your shellac. you can by some empty paint cans with lids to mix with. you may want to do a test to make sure the spar stick's well to the Shellac.
Good Luck!

I measured equal parts of each and put it something else to apply, don't shake of cause extra bubbles.

I applied, the next day sanded and reapplied, repeat, repeat, ......

Being what your doing, I would not try to sand every time, except if you get a bad bubble, your sanding is going to be much harder, it's not flat. Apply kind of steady, don't keep brushing it dries fast and you will just make brush marks, fix screw-ups by sand before re applying. Close can, don't leave open for no reason.

Get to work, you will see it's not hard, you can't mess up to bad look at the bar now, it's dry, it will only improve.

Haha yeah, I agree. It can't look any worse. Some people like that look; not me. Especially after seeing some of the renovation jobs on here.

Works been insane lately but I plan on ordering the things tomorrow or picking them up from a local store if available and then hopefully finishing washing and sanding by the weekend and then starting the shellac and varnish process throughout the weekend. We are getting new windows, a fence, working on the trees, and patching the roof so no promises! :] Busy busy week.

Thanks everyone for your time once again. Hopefully this thread will be of use to others and the pictures as well.

Ah, Dtel. Actualy one last question. Did you thin both the shellac and varnish or just the varnish? It sounds like you did both and would make sense to thin the shellac to apply easier but just checking

On 2014-07-22 13:50, freestylpolaris wrote:Is using a roller on the large supporting frame portions out of the question for shellac or varnish due to bubbling? I am picking up everything today.

On the Varnish I used a foam roller, the small ones about 4" long to put it on kind of quickly, one small area at a time (like 2 feet on the top of the bar and quickly followed with a brush slowly smoothing it out with one light pass of the width of the brush moving on before it got tacky which is pretty quick, worked great.

On the shellac I just brushed it on, it's so thin it really doesn't hold bubbles and dries almost as fast as you put it on.